Mike Camargo, also known as Upscale Vandal, is one of the most important people in fashion today. While you may not know his name, you have seen his work. After launching En Noir, he changed the face of streetwear. His expertise was integral in launching the Roc Nation apparel brand. He also relaunched Pharrell's Billionaire Boys Club, taking it from being a cool company to a very profitable one. Aside from that he has consulted with brands like Adidas, Puma, and Pepsi over the years. He has been working with artists like Pusha T, J. Balvin, and Wale as well. His story is inspirational because he earned every bit of his success, and uses his platform to empower others. Recently, I had the chance to talk to him about how he got to where he is, and where he plans to go next.
Growing up Mike was always into fashion. It started when his older sister got him into it. At 13 years old he would spend time with her and her friends. She made sure he had all the best Polo gear. Her boyfriend at the time was a Lo Head so Mike had everything. Growing up in one of the rougher neighborhoods of Brooklyn, it matters who was the freshest as a symbol of pride. Whether that meant best clothes, sneakers, or cars, you wanted to stand out. And Mike always stood out as the freshest.
According to Mike, his truest fashion mentor was the cash register. He said the best way to learn about fashion is by being in the stores. Nothing compares to going into the stores, touching fabrics, seeing it with your own eyes, and buying things. It is the best way to study the industry. And everything Mike learned was from being a consumer. While there is nothing wrong with using the Internet to supplement learning, he says you cannot understand fashion with only the Internet.
Everyone has the moment they realize they found their calling. Mike remembers the day he knew fashion was it for him. He was watching an interview on Style with Pharrell and Nigo. Both are people he admires very much and has so for years. During that interview they talked about making different high fashion bags for $30,000 and $50,000. The locks on them were made of gold and diamonds. Also, Nigo was wearing a G-Shock watch full of diamonds. This was before anyone knew what G-Shock was. On the back of the watch there was a silhouette of Nigo’s face in diamonds as well. And seeing Pharrell, a young black man doing what he was amazed Mike. Something about that interview blew Mike’s mind, and from that point forward he was determined to be in fashion.
Always a go getter, entrepreneurship was one of Mike's passions from the start. At an early age, he started a mini car wash with his friends to earn money for pizza. He would collect $6 with his friends so they could buy a bucket, soap, and four rags. Then they would open a fire hydrant to use for water. Once they finished they would have enough money to buy two pies of pizza. It was a minor way to flip money, but it worked for what he needed at the time.
As he got older Mike did different things to make money, some of them were illegal. He ended up going to prison for a stint. When he got out he knew he would never go back though. Shortly after getting released the courts said Mike could get a job or go to school. So, he did both. He had a nine-month stretch at a 3-1-1 call center, and one semester in school. In the one semester at school he was on the Dean's List. All the classes he was taking were fashion related, but his professors told him he already knew all the material. When he realized, he could not learn much at school he left. It only made sense to get into fashion at that point.
The next position Mike ended up taking was in the fashion world. His friend Zo who owned Fashion Geek always told Mike to take fashion more seriously. Zo introduced Mike to April Roomet, who was styling some major stars at the time. He showed her Mike’s Instagram page, and she became interested in working with him. Through April he got an assistant stylist position. It worked out because April had a vacancy she need help filling on the East Coast. At the time, she was working with Nas, Santigold, Ice Cube, and Big Sean among others.
The stylist position was helpful for Mike. Working the job got him in the most important boutiques continuing to buy things as well. Those relationships came in handy later. It also helped him to hear about all the newest trends and pieces that came in before anyone else. There was a trick Mike used to make sure he knew things before anyone. He would find the manager of the stores, and hand them $500 along with his credit card info. That small gesture was enough to have managers always buy and ship the most exclusive items to Mike as soon as they dropped.
While styling did not pay much, it was his first foray into seeing how the business of fashion worked. To get around the low pay he started selling things here and there. They were simple items like t-shirts and bracelets.
One of Mike's best-selling items was Shamballa bracelets. They were very popular at the time. People like Jay Z were wearing diamond encrusted ones. He and a girl he was dating at the time realized they could source the materials and make their own. She helped teach Mike how to make them, and they did it together. They were selling them to retail stores, and getting them on celebrities like Big Sean and Wale. There were retail locations ordering more than 30 at a time. Since they were $250 a piece that was no small feat.
Selling Shamballa bracelets is how he got the name Upscale Vandal too. One of the people he was selling the bracelets to asked what the brand name was. He said Mike needed to have a brand, which was true, but Mike was not sure what to name it. At the time Mike's Instagram handle was something involving the word vandal. His girlfriend and business partner suggested the name Upscale Vandal. It made sense since he was making designer goods. If only because it was an interesting juxtaposition of an aesthetic Mike always had. Being named Upscale Vandal was a metaphor for how he lived his life. He was someone who came from the bottom, but aspired to live like the upper echelon.
While styling was something Mike was good at it was not something he enjoyed doing. Many things about it did not feel right, and it was a nasty business model. To make money you had to take clothes from up and coming brands to promote them on who you were styling. Then you would mix those in with pieces you bought from Barney's for the client. And you would tell them you bought everything. Those little things pushed him away. Plus, he wanted to learn more about other aspects of the fashion business. Styling was boring. He was more excited by sales, marketing, brand management, and brand building.
Once he knew he wanted to leave styling he decided to give Zo a call and see him in Chicago. He also met with Vic who worked at a store called Leaders. On top of owning brands Zo and Vic were affiliated with important boutiques. Through them Mike met Dean, who worked at Private Stock, a premium denim company. In a short period, Mike took that company from doing $80,000 a season to over $350,000 a season. And Mike learned everything he wanted to in that position. Things like sales structure, logistics, operations, showroom management, and trade shows were part of his position. Things were going so well with Private Stock that Mike got asked to also help with Domenico Vacca as well. It was another brand the owner had. After some time with these brands Mike got the opportunity of a lifetime though. A position at Billionaire Boys Club opened that he was offered.
The position itself was at Roc Apparel. But under the umbrella he was working for Billionaire Boys Club. Mike spent two years there. He started out as the Southeast sales rep, but in under a year oversaw the whole country. Using his understanding of the brand he grew it without messing with the brand. Distribution went from 30 points of retail to 130. When Mike first got there the brand was profitable, but not in the way Mike knew it had the potential to be. Where Mike's expertise came in handy was knowing which doors to bring it into to get it to that place though.
Of all the important accounts in streetwear across the country, 50 of them matter most. If you have those accounts, all of which are premium, you can create a successful brand. Because Mike used to go to stores in Chicago, Atlanta, or North Carolina to go shopping he knew everyone. He did not have to spend time building those relationships. It was only a matter of letting people know he was on the business side now. Once he established that with the stores it only made sense he could grow brands as fast as he did.
Growing a brand is not about getting it into any or every door. It is about getting it into the right ones. Putting a brand in the wrong place can oversaturate and kill it. He said to think about a brand like Gucci. People love it for the quality and what it represents. But if you started to see Gucci in Target or at bodegas in the city your perceptions would change. And they would trend downwards. That is because adding it in those locations compromised its integrity. And compromising brand integrity is the last thing you want to do.
During his time at Billionaire Boys Club there was one person who acted as a mentor to Mike; that person being Emory Jones. He built a relationship with him from the day he got there. Emory noticed Mike was something like a fish out of water. They got lunch together a few times, and he told Emory about his background because he knew Emory’s. After being in for only around a month and a half, Emory took him under his wing. Emory told Jay Z about Mike too. He told him this is a guy who you can trust, and from there it was always love from Jay Z as well.
After two years at Roc Apparel the company started taking a different direction. Jay Z was restructuring his operations, and was reimagining things with Roc Apparel. It was around this time when they decided to start Roc Nation Apparel. Emory came to Mike and said there was a place there for him if he wanted it. So, he started with Roc Nation to do whatever needed doing. He offered his expertise when needed. Whether that meant marketing ideas, seeding strategies, naming items, and so on. He spent a year there doing that, and after that left to start his own company.
It has been a few years since Mike left Roc Nation to start The Upscale Vandal Group with his partner Curtains. He met Curtains when they co-founded En Noir as a side project during his time at BBC and Roc Apparel. Mike credits that brand for changing the landscape of designer streetwear. It created the concept into a real business. Other brands tried, but never in the way En Noir did it. And it opened the door for brands like Off White and Fear of God. Their opening price points were $450, but they had $25,000 snakeskin luggage too. The brand won GQ Designer of The Year in their first year. It was also the only brand to ever show New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week in their first season.
There are other successes the Upscale Vandal Group has other than En Noir. They helped to launch the wildly successful Tackma from inception. Other clients include Adidas, Puma, and Timberland. In the music space, they work closely with G.O.O.D Music’s Pusha T, and Latin music sensation J. Balvin, and Wale.
These days everyone asks Mike how they can get into fashion. And he gives them the same answer. Go to stores to feel the clothes, touch them, and read about them the same way he did. While the Internet is a great resource, designers have put out books for years. And guess what? Reading the Wikipedia for Raf Simmons is not the same as talking to a sales rep, being at the store, and getting the book. The book has a different feel. It gets the aesthetic of the designer across. You can feel the weight and paper stock he chose. Even the size of the book speaks to you. So if you are looking to get into fashion that is what you must do.
These days’ business is great for Mike. Him and Curtains they have a thriving business. They do not have to look for new business because it comes to them. They think it is because they are never trying to reinvent the wheel for their client, and their clients appreciate that. Their focus is on making sure the client has the right wheel for them. For example, instead of letting a brand give the major artist at the time a lucrative Snapchat deal, they find the right partner. That is their edge and what keeps them ahead of competition. They have their finger on the pulse of culture, and no one can replicate that.
Looking ahead Mike and Curtains say they want to get into new industries. They have done well in fashion and music. There are five or six industries they are looking at. Two that are of interest are hospitality and food. They like the idea of the cannabis industry as well.
You would imagine someone like Mike would be a cocky person. Someone who came from his position to where he is now might be full of themselves. That is not the case though. He carries himself with extra humility. In his words, he knows he could be dead or in jail. And living the life he gets to is a major blessing he cannot be thankful enough for. So, he treats each day with humility keeping that in mind while continuing to work hard to show thanks. And with an attitude like that how could you not win?
